The labyrinth of monsters (a Hermitcraft and third life AU fanfic)

Chapter 28 - Scott

I wake up in darkness. 

Wait...

I WAKE UP.

I'M ALIVE. 

HOW?!

I sit bolt upright, panting. Dog-guy attacked me... I watched it. He literally tore out half of my insides.

HOW AM I ALIVE?!

Finally, I decide to take in everything else. I'm in some kind of half-cave, half house area, with torn fur and mess everywhere. Chests, food and weapons line the walls, and there are three others, sleeping, around me. I quickly recognise Tango and Grian, and with a jolt I realise the third, very furry, person is mr wolfy himself.

Grian groans, sitting groggily up. Our eyes meet for a moment, before he's shaking Tango urgently awake. 

'Uhhuh... what...?' The other non-maze person wakes up slowly, sleepily looking around. He sees me and his eyes fly open. 'Scott!' 

'Hi guys...' I greet uncertainly. 'What... happened?'

'A... lot?' 

'I can tell that! Why are you here? Did wolf-guy kidnap you as well?'

'No!' The shock in Grian's voice confuses me. They must be friends. Why are they friends?!

'But... but he killed Martyn...' 

'Woah... you've missed a lot...' Tango looks almost concerned. 'Alright... what had happened before you disappeared?'

'Skizz and Jimmy were dead? Wait, if Martyn didn't die, then I was right to think he wasn't killed?! I'm so confused! Someone actually explain this to me!'

'Just them?!' 

'Yes? More people have died?'

'Literally everyone's dead now!' 

'Everyone?!'

'Not everyone! But most people, yeah.' 

'Is Etho dead?' I let a guilty glimmer of hope into my voice, before realising that he didn't actually cause Martyn's death, because Martyn wasn't actually dead. 

'Yes. Impulse killed him. Then Impulse killed himself, me and Grian ran away with the people in the maze, Doc basically declared war on everyone, most people died, and now there's only me, you, Grian, Ren, Beef, Wels, Iskall and Jevin alive on our side.'

'Who's Ren and Beef? And Wels?'

'Dog-man, podzol guy, and the knight. His evil side is called Hels.' 

'They're your friends?'

'Yes! Pay attention! And try and keep the noise down, Ren will get really mad at us if we wake him up.' 

'Ren's dog-guy, right?'

'Yes.' 

In the silence that follows, I count the people alive. 7. Seven people on my side. Or their side. I have no idea who I actually want to ally with. I have no idea about most things actually. 

'And who's on their side?'

'No idea. But the last time we checked Doc, Pearl and xB were all alive, because they attacked us. Joel, Xisuma, Cub - one of the Convex - and Joe died.'

'I'm still confused.' I admit. 

'Don't worry. You'll probably work stuff out as you go anyway. And you'll probably be dead soon too. The Creators called a meeting for... today?'

'Yeah, it's today.' Grian confirms, speaking for once in a long time. I realise that one of his wings is gone. Was it already gone? I concede to just being as confused as normal, and look down at where I thought Ren had shredded my vital organs to dog-litter. 

'It's healed well.' I note, poking the stitches. 

'Martyn and Joel did a good job.'

'Yeah...' The room goes silent again. Ren scuffles about in the corner, as though he's having a bad dream. Suddenly, he wakes up. 

'MARTYN, NO!' He gasps, falling out of the pile of scrap material he's in, claws flailing and fur a mess. He shakes off most of the fabric, getting to his feet and looking around.

'Scott! You're awake! I'm... sorry for trying to murder you...'

'It's ok.' I shrug off my potential death like it's nothing. 'Tango and Grian have Just been making me even more confused explaining everything.' 

'Fight today...' Tango reminds all of us again. Ren growls.

'I don't care what happens, but I kill Doc, ok?'

No one protests. Grian looks at a hole in the roof that's letting in a sliver of silver and gold light.

'Sunrise. Let's go. Scott? Are you alright to come too?'

I nod before I can think of what they're asking. Knowing how hard it will be to stand, I roll off what I'm on and get to my feet. 

I stumble for the first few steps, but then get my balance. I nod to the others, ready to go until I realise i'm only wearing my jacket on my top half. I quickly grab a green T-shirt from the middle of the room, pulling it on. Ren's staring at me, and nods quickly before slipping away. I frown. 

'It was Martyn's. He and Ren were very close.' Grian tells me. I nod. 

'Ok.' I take a sword as well, before following the others into the maze. 

We reach a meeting room, where the other four are. All of them are holding weapons.

'Hi, I'm alive,' I greet awkwardly. 'I literally just woke up and have no idea what's going on.'

'We're going to get killed.' Wels explains pessimistically. 

'Good to know.' I sigh back. 'I'm good at getting killed.' 

'Can I ask a favour before we go?' Everyone looks at Grian. He gulps, and continues. 'Can Someone cut off my other wing? I can't use it and it will only get in the way. Wels? You did it quite easily before...'

The knight merely shrugs, coming over and slicing the useless flying limb straight off. Grian holds back a scream. Tango throws him over a healing potion, and covers the wound. 

'Well, that hurt...' he adds as an afterthought. 'Now, let's go.' 

We set off. The journey's made in silence, and soon we reach a room off the maze. There's writing on the backwall in... blood? Something bad's definitely happened here. Tango stares at the floor and we get into a line. I notice that none of us - except Wels - are in armour. If it comes to a fight...

'Guys?' Tango begins 'I just want to say, in case I die... Thanks for being here? You're all cool. So... Yeah. See you on the other side, I guess.'

'See you on the other side...' I reply quietly. Suddenly, Ren growls.

'They're coming.' 

We watch as the others file into the room, lining up. I count them all. 7. We have 8. But they're in full diamond armour. Doc stands in the middle with xB.

'So. We meet again.' Iskall begins. 

'If you wanted a fight, you could've just said.' Doc replies. 

'We didn't send the letters. We thought it was the creators.'

'Why would they send us together? If they want peace, it's not going to happen.' 

'So you're going to fight, no matter what we do?' Jevin asks icily. I can tell the others are surprised to see him. Hypno smiles, before awkwardly frowning again. Jevin isn't looking at him.

'Yes. You killed some of us. Death for Death. Peace for all everyone who wants it.'

'We want it now! Why won't you accept it?'

'Because it's our rule! Our only rule! And if we break it we'll have nothing!' 

'Stop This.'

'No.' 

I barely hear what he says next, but I know what it is as everything is thrown into chaos.